What Walks The Earth
by Black Dragon 42
Summary: The dead walk the Earth. Ever wonder what else walks the Earth? Gale Rodgers was a 34 year old Marine Gunnery Sergeant. And, she is one of the others that walk this Earth. Can she keep her secret when she joins Rick, and then the rest of the group? And how can she help them with her gift? Daryl/OC
1. Proflie

**Name:** Gale Rogers

**Age:** 35

**Gender:** Female

**Occupation:** Marine Gunnery Sergeant

**Blood Type:** O-negative

**Hair:** Hip length, straight, red

**Eyes:** Deep gray (glow red)

**Skin:** Tan

**Height:** 5'8"

**Weight:** Mostly Muscle

**Build:** Slender

**Family:** Beverly (mother) (D), Lance (father) (D), Casey (older brother), Matthew (younger brother), Abby (younger sister), Coleen (younger sister), Debora (younger sister)

**Weapons:** CZ75 Phantom (with silencer), IMI Desert Eagle, 2 machetes, throwing knives, compound bow and quiver with arrows

**Personality:** Rational, motivated, quiet humorous, dependable, kind, caring, hardened emotions

**Other Info:** Wears elbow length fingerless gloves to hide scaring on wrists and lower arms; Large X scar on stomach

**Outfits:** Polyvore: gale_rogers/set?id=108479168

dangerous_gale/set?id=108815752

cgi/set?id=109580207


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I walked down the side of the road, my military bag on my back, with my bow in my hand and arrows at my side. My hyper senses picked up the sound of a car engine. I kept walking for a few minutes, before it got closer and stopped next to me. When I looked over, a man in a Sheriff Deputy uniform rolled down the window of his Sheriff Department vehicle.

"Where you headed?" he asked.

I looked at him for a moment, not sure if I should answer him. The air around him seemed to be very kind, honest; you don't find that now. "Atlanta."

The man smiled at me. "So am I. Can I give you a ride?"

"What's your name?" I asked. I wasn't going to get in a car with someone that I didn't know the name of, no matter how nice he was.

"Rick Grimes," he replied, reaching his arm out of the window and holding his hand out to me.

I took it and gave a firm shake. "Gale Rodgers." I walked around the car, and threw my stuff into the back. Then, I climbed into the passenger's seat.

Rick put the car back into drive and we continued on. A silence fell over us. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable silence; neither of us knew what to say to end it. Rick seemed to shift in his seat because of it.

"So, why are you heading to Atlanta?" I decided to ask. I somehow felt as if I could trust him, which does not happen. Most of the men in my unit had to earn my trust the hard way. I looked in his direction to study him.

He had slight stubble on his chin, short brown hair, and light blue eyes. His eyes were focused on the road in front of us, but I did see him glance at me out of the corner of his eye. "I'm trying to find my wife and son," he answered. "I'm hoping to find them in Atlanta."

"Why weren't you with them in the first place?"

Rick looks over at me fully, and then turned back to the road. "I got shot and was in a coma."

I looked at him in utter surprise. "You just woke up?" I questioned. He nodded. "Holy shit." I didn't think that anyone could have survived in a coma after the happened.

"What about you? Why are you going to Atlanta?"

"Closest to where I was," I replied. Which was true, Atlanta was the closest.

"What were you? Before this?" he asked, trying for a conversation. "I'm guessing military by your bag."

I nodded. "Marine Corp, Gunnery Sergeant."

He looked surprised. "Wow, that's impressive. How old are you?"

"Thirty-five," I replied quickly.

"You don't look a day over 25," he commented. I raised an eyebrow at that, although it wasn't untrue.

"Whatever." I wanted to make it sound like I didn't care, so he wouldn't be suspicious. In truth, he was right; people like me just didn't look our real ages. We don't age like humans do.

We fell into another silence for a while. This one seemed more comfortable than the last. Rick drove a little further, before we there was a ding showing the low gas level. We came to a stop at a gas station that looked like people had tried to survive at. The two of us got out of the cruiser, and began to walk towards the field of cars. I had grabbed my bow and arrows before leaving the car, just in case.

As we walked through the sea of cars and corpses, we went to the station in the middle. There was a sign that said, "NO GAS." Rick looked at the sign disappointed, and sighed.

"Maybe we'll find some gas from these cars," I suggested. He nodded and we were about to walk away, but a shuffling noise caught our attention. I grabbed Rick and pulled him with me and ducked behind a car. Rick took his hat off and kneeled on the ground to look under the cars. I was too busy knocking an arrow into my bow to notice Rick suddenly get up and move around the car; until it was too late.

"Rick!" I whispered harshly, and moved to follow him.

"Little girl," he called. I stood behind him and saw why he got up. There was a little girl with long blonde hair, wearing a pale pink robe, and holding a white teddy bear. She had her back to us, so I couldn't see her face; however, with the smell coming off her, I didn't need to. I raised my bow and aimed for the head, but Rick stopped me from firing by placing a hand on my arm. He made me lower my arm, but I didn't relax my posture.

"Little girl," he called again. "Don't be afraid, okay? Little girl." The little girl slowly turned around, and reveled that her lips had rotten away and a bite on her shoulder. "Oh god," Rick whispered, unbelieving.

The walker started to walk towards Rick, and I watched as Rick took a few steps back, hesitating. I moved around him and pulled back the string of my bow. After taking a deep breath, I released the arrow and hit the walker in between the eyes. Rick was breathing heavily, and looked over at me in complete shock.

"I couldn't just let her bite you, could I?" I asked as I went to retrieve my arrow. After pulling it out of the little girl's forehead, I looked back at Rick, who was leaning over with his hands on his knees. "You really are getting used to this, aren't you?"

Rick didn't respond as he tried to steady his breathing. I went about searching the cars for food, gas and other things; didn't find much, but just enough. After putting everything I found in the car, I walked back over to where Rick knelt down. He wasn't breathing hard anymore, but he still seemed a little distressed. I put a hand on his shoulder, which he jumped at. Rick calmed down after seeing it was just me. His blue eyes still held shock in them, but he seemed better.

_'Guess he's really not used to this yet,'_ I thought, and sighed. I held my hand out to help him up, and he gripped it. After steadying him on his feet, I patted his back softly. "Let's get going, 'kay?"

Rick nodded and we headed back to the car. After getting back on the road, we fell once again into a silence. This one was broken this time by Rick.

"Thank you," he said. I looked at him in confusion. "For saving my life, thank you."

I just looked at him for a moment. He was being truly sincere about thanking me. "Don't mention it."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We sat in a comfortable silence; Rick driving, and me staring out the window. My thoughts wandered over the different people in my life, wondering if they were alive or dead. My brothers and their families, my sisters and their families, the men in my unit, their families… Did they make it?

The slowing of the car brought me from my thoughts. I looked to Rick, then to the gas dial; it was past empty. Rick opened the trunk of the cruiser, but before he got out, he pulled the visor down to take out a picture of him, a woman with brown hair and a young boy.

_'Probably his wife and son,'_ I thought. I climbed out and grabbed my bag, situating the straps on my shoulders. Rick pulled a bag of guns onto his shoulder, and with another bag in one hand and gas can in the other, we began to walk down the road. We came to this farm house and stopped in front of it.

"Hello!" Rick called out. "I'ma police officer! Can we borrow some gas?"

There was no answer, so I took a deep breath; all I got was rotting flesh. Rick approached the house still calling out to anyone inside. I approached the front door and bent down to pick the lock.

"Should you really be doing that?" Rick asked.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't think those rules apply anymore, do you?"

He left to walk around on the porch, while I finished picking the lock. I heard the click, and pushed the door open. Rick suddenly walked off the porch, and sat at the stone table in the yard. I just walked to see what I could find.

After raiding the kitchen, which was a good amount, I walked into the living room, and saw what made Rick so upset. A man that had shot himself in the head was sitting on the couch, with an older woman at his feet shot in the chest. On the wall, the man had written "GOD FORGIVE US" in blood. There were flies everywhere, and the smell was getting to my senses, so I left the house. When I walked off the porch, I saw Rick walking out of the barn.

"Gale, I found transportation," he told me in a happy tone.

I allowed him to pull me into the barn, but stopped dead when I saw the red-brown colored horse. Horses and I didn't really get along; at least, my kind and horses don't really didn't get along. "Oh no, no, no, no," I said shaking my head.

"Come on," Rick encouraged. "It'll be fine."

"Um, no," I insisted. "I don't get along all that well with riding horses. Taking care of them, I'm ya girl; but riding, oh no."

The man beside me looked at me with a curious and confused expression. "You mean that you've never ridden a horse before?"

My expression was neutral. "No. My parents didn't really like having other animals in the family," I muttered. It wasn't until the words were out of my mouth that I realized my slip up.

"What?" Rick asked confused.

I was at a loss for words. I wasn't sure if I should tell him my secret or to try and cover it up. Trying to cover it up would be hard, since he heard it from standing right next to me. I could tell him my secret, but the last time I did that, it didn't really end well. I looked him directly into his blue eyes, and searched for any indication that he might try to attack me if I told him. Not finding any, I heaved a heavy sigh.

"Look, if I tell you, do you promise you won't attack me?" I questioned. I decided to ask directly, he seemed honest enough.

He looked at me for a moment, before he nodded. "I promise."

I took a deep breath. "I don't tell many people this, but…I'm a werewolf."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I know that this is really short, but I wanted it to end there before they get to Atlanta. Anyway, there it is! Did anyone guess what she was? And if you did, were you right? Read and Review people! I makes me want to write more, as well as faster!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rick stared at me for a good long while, before he walked over to a stack of hay and sat down. I didn't move from my spot; afraid that if I moved towards him, he might lash out. We went on like that in silence, neither quite knowing what to say. The horse seemed not to like it and whinnied. I walked over quickly to stroke its nose, calming it down. I could feel eyes on me and figured that it was Rick evaluating me, so I just kept stroking the horse. That's when Rick said something that almost left me in shock.

"Okay," he said calmly.

My head snapped towards him so fast that I could've had whiplash. I had never in my life heard someone say that after hearing what I had told him. "That's it?" I asked disbelievingly.

"What?" His face was full of confusion.

"I mean, that's all you have to say?" I questioned. "Nothing else?"

Rick seemed to understand what I was saying and lightly smiled. "You said that you don't tell many people about this, so you must trust me. Also, you could've attacked me at anytime, but you didn't. That means you don't pose any real threat." I scoffed, and Rick paused. "At least to me," he corrected.

I sighed again. "Well, you are right. But I want to ask that if we run into anyone else, including your family, that you not tell them," I said sternly.

"Why?"

I got nervous at that, and looked at my feet. "Well, the last group of people I told tried to take my head off…"

I looked up to see his reaction, and didn't miss the look of anger that flashed in his eyes. He walked up to me with purpose in his steps, and looked me dead in the eyes. "I would never do that to anyone, nor would I let anyone do that to you."

I searched his eyes for a moment, and saw that he was serious. Slowly, I nodded to show I understood, and he nodded back at me.

"So, if you can't ride, what will you do?" he asked, changing the subject.

I laughed out loud at that. "I can keep up."

After we got the horse saddled up, and Rick was up in the saddle, Rick guided the horse out of the barn to where I was standing in the yard. Rick started to talk to the horse. "Let's go easy, okay? I haven't done this in years." Suddenly, the horse took off in a gallop, and Rick tried to tell him to go easy over and over again. All I could do is laugh at his situation, while running after him. Soon enough, the horse slowed down and I could stop running. We walked in silence for a while, although I could feel Rick's eyes on me.

"Something you want to say Rick?" I asked looking up at him.

"Um…" he mumbled, obviously a little disturbed that he was caught.

I chuckled at him. "Go ahead and ask any questions you want."

He seemed to think about this for a little bit. "What exactly can you do?"

I laughed at him again. "I'm a lot stronger, faster, have better senses, better endurance, and rapid healing," I counted off, and I could see him mulling this over.

"What about turning into a wolf?" he asked. And there it is the question everyone asks.

"I can," I responded.

"Can everyone?"

"Not everyone," I started. "Those who can are called Alphas, and there is only one in every pack. The others are called Betas, and they are what make up a pack. There are also Omegas that are the lone wolves, and they can be either Betas or Alphas."

"So, you're an Alpha and an Omega?" I nodded. "That makes sense."

We were somewhat quiet with the occasional question from Rick. We eventually made it to Atlanta. Walking in on the highway and seeing the other side of the road with decaying cars, made chills go down my spine. The city seemed dead, for lack of a better word. It seemed to be abandoned everywhere. We passed by an army tank with a dead soldiers body hanging off it.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a helicopter. Looking up, I saw a helicopter and apparently so did Rick. He made the horse gallop after the helicopter.

"Rick!" I whispered harshly. I was going to go after him, but he got to the end of the street and turned the horse around. He started to wave me off, and I saw why. There was a large group of walkers that covered the street. I ran down one street and into an alley that had a fence. When I looked back to see if he was following, I saw Rick and the horse go down. Walkers cut me off from going back for him. I went back into the alley and to the ladder.

I looked up at the top of the building and bent down on the balls of my feet. Tensing my muscles, I jumped up and over the railing on the top of the building. I went to the side to see Rick poking his head out of the top of the tank. His eyes seemed to meet mine and nodded slightly, before he closed the top of the tank, so the walkers wouldn't get him.

"Hey, is he okay?" a voice asked.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

My head snapped behind me to look at who the voice belonged to. A young man, in his early twenties, stood there staring at me with a worried expression. The young man looked to be Korean, wearing a red ball cap and a black backpack on his back. I looked at him wearily, but shook my head at him. "No, he's not alright," I snapped at him, turning around to look back at the tank. "And I have no way of helping him."

"Maybe you do," the young man said, making me look at him again. He took out a radio out of the back pocket of his jeans. "Can you get this to the station for the radio in the tank?"

I grabbed the talkie out of his hand, and quickly turned the channel, then handed it back to him. "Hey, you in the tank are you alright in there?" he asked into the talkie. When he didn't get a response, he tried again. "Hey, are you alive in there?"

"Hello? Hello?" Rick's voice cracked from the talkie. I let out a breath of relief; he was alright. I let out a breath of relief; he was alright.

"There you are," the boy said with a sigh. "You had me worried there."

"Are you outside? Can you see me right now?" Rick asked with slight panic in his voice.

"Yeah, I can see you, you're surrounded by walker," the boy replied. "That's the bad news."

"There's good news?"

"No."

"Whoever you are, I don't mind telling you, I'm a little concerned in here." I could hear the panic in Rick's voice rise.

"Oh man," the boy said, fear in his voice. "You should see it from here; you'd be having a major freak out."

"Have any advice for me?"

"Yeah, make a run for it," the young man replied. There was a pause from Rick, and I looked at the boy with wide eyes, and then glared at him. There was no way that Rick could make it.

"That's it? Make a run for it?" Rick asked incredulously.

The boy looked exasperated. "My idea isn't as dumb as it sounds, you've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still on the tank, but the rest went to join the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You with me so far?"

"So far," Rick replied. The boy looked at me and I nodded that I was following.

"The right side of the tank is clear, so you might have a chance. You got ammo?"

"In that bag I dropped out there. Can I get to it?" Rick asked. That's when I noticed the bag he was talking about sitting there in the street. I turned my head to look at the young man next to me, who looked back at me. I shook my head telling him that there wasn't away to get to it.

"Forget the bag, that's not an option. What do you have on you?"

"Hold on," Rick responded.

The boy turned to me and held his hand out. "I'm Glenn by the way."

"Gale," I replied taking his hand. He was helping get Rick out of the tank, so he shouldn't be that bad.

"I've got a Baretta with one clip, fifteen rounds," Rick's voice cracked over the radio.

"Make them count," Glenn said. "There's an alley about fifteen yards, be there." Glenn started to walk to the ladder on the side of the building.

"Hey, what's your name?" Rick questioned.

"Have you been listening?" Glenn asked. "You don't have a lot of time."

Glenn went down the ladder, and I watched as Rick came out of the top of the tank; hitting a walker with a shovel. He jumped off to the right of the tank, and landed with a roll. He got up and began to run with a slight limp, and shooting any walker that got too close to him. When Rick got to the alley, he nearly shot Glenn, but realized that he was alive in time. They ran to the ladder with Rick still shooting the walkers.

Glenn began to climb the ladder and followed soon after. When they got to the landing, they stopped to take a breath. They began to talk and shook hands, but I didn't really pay any attention to listen; I was just glad Rick was alive. Rick put the empty Beretta into Glenn's backpack, and they both began to climb. As they climbed, I realized that I thought of Rick as a true friend. I hadn't thought about anyone that way, besides my Marine unit that is.

Glenn came over the railing first, and then Rick. When he saw me standing there, he gave me a smile. "You're alright," he sighed with relief.

I gave a laugh. "You just ran from a mob of walkers, and you were worried about me; typical cop."

He laughed in response to that. Glenn just looked at the two of us with a strange look, but motioned us to follow him to the other end of the roof. We followed him and saw that there was a bridge that led to the roof of the next building.

"Were you then one who barricaded the alley?" Rick asked Glenn as we walked across it.

"Somebody did. I guess when the city got over run they were thinking about how many geeks could get through," Glenn responded.

"Back at the tank why did you stick your neck out for me?" Rick asked.

Glenn took his backpack off and threw it down a ladder shaft as he answered. "Call it foolish naïve hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, someone might do the same for me. Guess that makes me an even bigger dumbass than you." With that, he started to climb down the ladder.

I motioned for Rick to climb down before me. Once he was down a good ways, I went down as well. After closing the hatch, the shaft was in pitch darkness; at least for Rick and Glenn. I had always been thankful for the fact that I could see in the dark, now more than ever. The boys waited at the bottom for me to come down, and then we ran through some kind of office building. We went through an exit door and down some flights of stairs into the blocked alley.

"I'm back," Glenn said into his talkie. "Got some guests, plus four geeks in the alley."

We stopped close to the end of the stairs, and saw two walkers that saw us as well. They started towards us, but suddenly two guys clad in black body gear and masks came out of a door in the alley. They carried baseball bats and began to beat the walkers in the head. Glenn ran forward and jumped over the two walkers on the round with Rick and I right behind him. The two guys kept beating the heads of the walkers, and it started to draw the attention of the other two walkers in the alley.

"Morales, let's go!" one of the men shouted as he started towards the door, the other man, Morales, right behind him.

As soon as the door was closed, Rick was grabbed, pushed against some boxes and had a Smith & Weston 3913 "Ladysmith" handgun shoved in his face by a woman with blonde hair in a ponytail. "Son of a bitch!" she shouted. "We otta kill you!"

I reached down to grip my CZ75 "Phantom" handgun in my thigh holster. I knew better than to draw it and antagonize her more, but I would be ready. Letting my eyes roll over the gun, I saw that the safety of her gun was still on. That made me relax my grip, but I didn't let go of my gun.

"Just chill out Andrea, back off," Morales said to the woman, Andrea.

"Come on, ease up," a woman with dark skin and black hair encouraged Andrea.

"Ease up?" Andrea reiterated. "You're kidding me right. We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

"Andrea!" Morales said harshly, stepping beside her. "I said back the hell off." He paused, waiting for her to drop the gun. When she didn't, he continued. "Or pull the trigger."

Andrea seemed to be conflicted, but reluctantly dropped the gun and backed up. "We're dead, all of us, because of you," she said in despair.

Rick looked back and forth between Morales, who stood in front of him now, and Andrea, who had stepped back. "I don't understand," he said.

"Look," Morales started as he pushed Rick down a hallway, with me not far behind. "We came here to scavenge supplies. Do you know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. Do you know what the key to surviving is? Sneaking in and out, tip toeing, not shooting up the streets like it's the Okay Corral."

We all walked into the front of a department store. At the front of the store, at the double doors, there was a massive amount of walkers.

"Every geek from miles around heard you popping off rounds," a man said.

"You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea commented. Rick and I turned to each other. _'This is a problem.'_ One of the walkers brought a rock and started to pound on the glass with it, and we all moved back a few steps.

"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" Andrea asked.

"Trying to flag the helicopter," Rick replied.

"Man, that's crap, man. There's no damn helicopter," the dark skinned man snapped at Rick.

"You were chasing a hallucination, it happens," the other woman reasoned.

"It wasn't a hallucination," I insisted. "I saw it too."

"Hey T-Dog, try that CB," Morales suggested to the dark skinned man, T-Dog. "Can you contact the others?"

"Others?" I questioned.

"The refugee center?" Rick asked with hope.

"Yeah, the refugee center," the other woman scoffed. "They've got biscuits waiting at the oven for us."

T-Dog kept turning the dial. "I've got no signal, maybe the roof." Before anyone could say anything else, a gun shot rang out.

"Oh no, was that Dixon?" Andrea asked panicked. We all made our way up the stairway to the roof.

"Hey Dixon! Are you crazy?" Morales shouted.

I came out onto the roof, and saw a man standing on the ledge of the roof with a rifle in his hands, shooting the walkers.

"Hey, you should be more polite to a man with a gun, huh?" Dixon said as he jumped down from the ledge. "Only common sense."

"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got man, just chill!" T-Dog exclaimed.

"Hey, it's bad enough I've got this taco bender on my ass all day," Dixon complained. "Now I've got to take orders from you? I don't think so bro. That'll be the day."

"That'll be the day?" T-Dog repeated. "You got something you wanna tell me?" Morales tried to interfere and calm everyone down, but he was ignored.

"You wanna know the day?" Dixon asked. "I'll tell you the day, Mr. Yo. It's the day I take orders from a Niger."

"Mother—" T-Dog threw a punch at Dixon but he only dodged and hit him with the butt of his rifle, thus Dixon began to beat T-Dog. Rick tried to stop the fight, but Merle just punched him in the jaw. Everyone began to yell for Merle to stop, but he ignored them.

I've seen enough bar fights to know no to get involved. Instead, I went over to Rick to check if he was okay. Grabbing Rick's upper arm, I hauled him to his feet. Rick looked surprised that I was able to lift him up so easily, but I only shrugged. I turned back towards the fight to see Merle holding a handgun, and T-Dog scooting back towards the other woman, Glenn and Andrea.

"Come on, show of hands," Merle encouraged. "Democracy time y'all."

Slowly, Morales, who stood off to the side holding his side, raised his hand. Slowly the other raised their hands as well. I chuckled quietly as I saw the other woman basically flip him off as she raised her hand.

"Alright," Merle said satisfied. "So that means I'm the boss now. Anyone else, hm? Anybody?"

"Yeah," Rick said. As soon as Merle turned around, Rick hit him the same as he did to T-Dog; hit him with the butt of Merle's rifle. Rick put one knee on Merle's chest to keep him down, and then handcuffed him to a piece of metal that hooked into a pipe.

"Who the heck are you man!?" Merle shouted.

"Officer friendly," Rick replied. Rick grabbed Merle's handgun from the ground and began to take it apart, and then back together, as he spoke. "Listen here Merle. There are no Niger's anymore; no dumb as shit, inbred, white trash fools either. There's only white meat and dark meat; there's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, no apart."

"Screw you man," Merle snapped.

"I see you make a habit of missing the point," Rick said.

I ignored the rest as I made my way over to where T-Dog was still lying on the floor. As I passed Merle and Rick, I could clearly smell drugs coming from Merle. _'Well, that explains a lot.'_

I helped Glenn prop T-Dog against the ledge, took the rag from the other woman, and began to look T-Dog over for any other injuries. "Can you tell me if anything else hurts?" I asked. T-Dog looked at me strangely. "My mother was a nurse, so she taught me a few things."

He nodded. "My chest and I've got a headache."

I put my hands to where his ribs were and tried to see if they were broken or not. Thankfully, they were just bruised. Next, I looked at his head. He didn't have a concussion, but had a small bruise. "Your ribs are bruised, so they should heal in a few days. And you don't have a concussion, so with a little rest the headache should go away."

"Thank you," he said with a weak smile.

I nodded and stood up. A tap on my shoulder made me turn around. The other woman with dark skin stood there with her hand out. "I'm Jacqui," she said.

I nodded and took her hand. "Gale."

Rick, who had walked away, came back over to us with Morales. I nodded at him and he nodded back. "T-Dog, how's that signal?" Morales asked.

T-Dog started to mess around with the talkie. "Like Dixon's brain—weak." Merle only flipped him off.

"Why? There's nothing they can do," Andrea objected. "Not a damn thing."

"Got some people outside the city is all," Morales explained to Rick and me. "There is no refugee center, that's a pipe dream."

"Then she's right," Rick concluded. "We're on our own. It's up to us to figure a way out."

"Good luck with that," Merle sneered. "These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." He smirked at Andrea who was looking though one of the backpacks. "Ain't that right sugar tits?" Merle then started to hit on her, which made me roll my eyes.

"'Streets ain't safe'," Morales scoffed. "Now there's and understatement."

"What about under the streets?" Rick wondered. "The sewers?"

"Oh man," Morales whispered. "Hey Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"

Glenn ran over to the opposite side of the roof, and looked down at the alley. He came back over, shaking his head. "No, they must all be on the street where the geeks are."

"Maybe not," Jacqui spoke up, making everyone look at her. "Old building like this, built in the twenties—big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding; down in the subbasements."

"How do you know that?" Glenn wondered.

"It's my job—was. I working in the city's zoning office."

We all headed down to the subbasements; everyone except T-Dog and Merle. When we entered the subbasement, everyone but Rick and I had flashlights. Glenn led the way down to where the drainage tunnel was. "This is it," Glenn announced.

"You sure?" Morales questioned.

Glenn nodded. "I'd already scoped this place out the last few times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down, but I've never gone down it. Who's want to right?" Everyone looked at him, and his smile faded. "Oh…"

Andrea shared a look with Morales, and tried to comfort him. "We'll be right behind you."

"No, you won't," Glenn insisted. "Not you."

"Why not me?" Andrea snapped. "Think I can't?"

"I wasn't…" Glen trailed off."

"Speak your mind," I encouraged him.

He looked at me, and then at Rick who nodded. "Look, the other times I came here by myself, in and out; no problem. First time I bring a group, everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine, but only if we do it my way.

"It's tight down there. If I run into something, I need to get out quick. I don't want you all behind me, getting me killed. I'll take one other person. Not you either," he said to Rick. "You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store, covering our ass."

He pointed to Andrea, and then me. "You two have got the only other guns, so you both should go with him. You be my wingman." Glen pointed to Morales. "Jacqui stays here. If something happens, yell down to us, and get us up here fast."

Jacqui nodded. "Okay."

"Okay," Rick said, patting Glenn on his shoulder. "Everyone knows their jobs."

Glenn put his flashlight in his mouth and proceeded down the ladder. We moved back so Morales had room to climb down with ladder too. As soon as they were down, we all left to do our jobs. Rick, Andrea and I made our way to the front where the store was. We were greeted by seeing all the walkers still trying to get through the glass doors.

"Sorry for the gun in your face," Andrea apologized to Rick.

He looked back at her. "People do things when they're afraid."

"Not that it was entirely unjustified," Andrea defended. "You did get us into this."

"Well, if I get us out of this, would that make up for it?" Rick questioned.

"No," Andrea replied a little too quickly. "But it'd be a start."

We were silent for a while. I was looking at the clothes, and taking a few; putting them in my pack. I heard Rick and Andrea talking, but didn't really pay any attention, at least until I heard my name being said. Looking over at them, Andrea and Rick were both looking at me. They looked away, and I listened in while still looking at them.

"Would it be considered looting?" Andrea asked.

Rick looked past her and met my gaze, then turned back to her. "I don't think those rules apply anymore, do you?'

I smirked at him using my words from earlier. The moment was shattered when we heard the sound of glass giving way. Turning around, I watched as the walkers broke the glass of the first set of doors. I pulled back the string of my compound bow with the arrow I notched earlier, and aimed. Rick came up beside me, pointing Merle's gun at the doors as well. At that moment, Morales, Glenn, and Jacqui came into the main room.

"What did you find down there?" Rick questioned, tense.

"Not a way out," Morales answered.

"We need to find a way," Andrea told us. "Soon."

***What Walks the Earth***

Up on the roof, Rick was using the binoculars to try to find a way out, while thunder rolled above us. "That construction site, those trucks," he said, passing the binoculars to Morales. "They always keep keys on hand."

Morales looked down at the street. "They'll never make it past the walkers."

We all turned around as Rick looked at Glenn. "You got me out of that tank," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but they were feeding," Glenn defended. "They were distracted."

"Can we distract 'em again?" Rick wondered.

"Listen to him, he's on to somethin'," Merle sneered. "A diversion, like on Hogan's Heroes."

"God, give it a rest," Jacqui said, exasperated and I just rolled my eyes at him.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick asked, ignoring Merle.

"Right," Glenn confirmed. "Like dogs, they hear sound, they come."

I tried to keep my expression neutral at that comparison. Rick made eye contact with me, and I could see he was trying hard not to laugh. I glared slightly at him, but he ignored me. "What else?" he asked.

"Aside from they hear you?" Morales spoke up. "They see you, smell you, and if they catch you, they eat you."

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick asked in surprise, looking at me.

"Can't you?" Glenn asked back at him.

"They smell dead," I jumped in. "We don't, it's pretty distinct Rick."

Rick seemed to get this look like he just came up with an idea, and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like it.

***What Walks the Earth***

It took a little bit of convincing to get the others to go along, but they eventually agreed. I decided to stay outside of the room, just in case the walkers broke through the doors. Rick agreed, much to the others confusion. I made up an excuse that they needed someone to keep watch while they gutted the walker. The real reason was because of the smell. In the Marines, I had to deal with carnage; I just didn't have to deal with rotting corpses, especially if someone was chopping up that decaying body.

The smell drifted out of the room, and I had to fight my urge to gag. Eventually, the door to the alley was opened and then closed quickly. Morales, Jacqui, and Andrea ran out of the room and towards the stairs with me close behind them. After bursting through the door on the roof, everyone immediately went to the ledge of the roof.

T-Dog was able to get through to their camp, but again, I didn't pay any attention. I had my eyes following Rick and Glenn who were walking on the street. They were covered in walker guts that not even I could smell them. After a while, I felt a drop of water on my hand. I looked up to see dark clouds above us.

"It's just a cloud burst," Morales said as it started to pour. "If we give it a minute, it'll pass real quick."

I watched as Rick and Glenn soon had to fight their way to the construction site. By the time they made it into one of the cube vans, the walkers tore down the front gate. They drove off, which made the other start to panic. But, I knew that Rick wouldn't leave us. That's when I heard it; the blaring of a car alarm. It made me smirk.

"The roll up doors at the front of the store facing the street," Glenn's voice crackled over the radio. "Meet us there and be ready."

Everyone got their backpacks together, and started to go down the stairs. I lead the way down the stairs, through the front of the store to the roll up doors. After a few moments that everyone was silent, we could hear the car alarm getting closer, then slowly fade away. T-Dog suddenly came through the other room, shouting that the walkers were in here.

Morales, Jacqui, and Andrea quickly pulled the door open. Rick was waiting there with the cube van. We all piled into the van, Rick getting into the driver's seat, and me in the passengers, and then Rick floored it. Morales closed the back of the van, and sat next to T-Dog. Everyone was silent as the adrenalin slowly faded from each of our systems.

"I dropped the damn key," T-Dog said.

It was silent a moment longer.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea asked.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Morales and I switched places, so that he could give Rick directions to get to the campsite. I watched Rick closely. I could tell that he was feeling guilty over leaving Merle. He didn't seem like the type to leave someone behind. I guess that's what I like about him; it reminds me of the Marines.

"Best not to dwell on it," Morales told Rick. "Merle getting left behind. Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back. Except maybe Daryl."

"Daryl?" Rick asked in confusion.

"His brother."

I could hear the car alarm of the car that Glenn was driving, pass by us and off into the distance. The ride was silent for the most part. I asked T-Dog different questions to check up on his condition. Once I was sure that he was alright, I fell into silence with the others. I could feel eyes on me, and looked up, just as Andrea looked away. I only chuckled a little. "Something you want to ask me Andrea?"

She looked at me surprised for a moment, before she looked around to see everyone looking at her. "Um, you look like army, but what were you before this exactly?" she asked timidly.

I leaned my head back against the wall of the cube van, and glanced at Rick, who caught my eye when he turned to look at me. He turned back to the road, and I turned back to Andrea. "Gunnery Sergeant, Marine Corp," I replied.

She looked really impressed by that, and we all fell silent again. We were silent for the rest of the ride. I felt the van slow down before turning and come to a stop; everyone began to gather up their stuff.

"Come meet everybody," Morales told Rick, and got out.

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose in suppressed aggravation. I moved to sit next to Rick. "I know you wanted to find you family," I told him. "But, I have a feeling that they are closer than you think. I know you'll find them.

He looked at me with tired eyes, and nodded. I patted his shoulder, and got out of the van as he did the same. I came to stand beside him as we stepped out from behind a church van. I could see Morales holding onto a brown haired woman, a little girl, and a young boy hugging his waist. Andrea was clutching onto a young blonde haired woman, who was clinging onto her just as hard.

"Oh my god," Rick whispered. I looked at him, and saw that he was looking past the group in front of us. Following his gaze, I saw the same woman and young boy from the picture. Rick ran forward at the same time as the boy ran towards him.

Rick caught him, and fell down crying. He got up again and walked to the woman, who caught him in a hug. I didn't miss the look that she gave a man with black hair and carrying a Mossberg 590 shotgun. Rick finally let go of the two and looked back at me. "Gale, come here," he said. I hesitantly walked over to him. "Gale, this is my wife Lori, and my son Carl," he introduced. "Lori, Carl, this is Gale Rodgers. She's saved my life, and helped to get me here to you two."

I was pulled into a bone crushing hug by Lori. "Thank you," she whispered in my ear.

"No problem," I replied when she let me go. Then Carl hugged my waist.

Yelling from further into camp caught everyone's attention. Turning to see what it was, I watched as a woman with curly, medium length, black hair, and blue  
eyes run out into the middle of the camp where we were. She stood at about 5 foot 5 inches, and had fair skin. I recognized her immediately, but couldn't really believe that it was really her. I was so surprised, that my brain didn't register three people walk up behind her. When I looked past the woman though, I did see them.

There was a man that stood at about 5 foot 8 inches, and had fair skin as well. He had short black hair and green eyes. The other two were just little kids; one a boy with wavy black hair and green eyes, then the other a girl with curly black hair and blue eyes. They both had fair skin, like both of their parents.

"Gale," the woman whispered, but my hearing picked it up and I looked at her.

Stepping away from Rick and his family, I moved closer to the woman. "Abby?" I questioned. The woman burst into tears, and ran towards me. I caught her when she grabbed me in a crushing hug. I held her close, taking a deep breath, trying to stop myself from crying and taking in her sent. She still smelled like my little sister.

I pulled back to look at her. She had tears running down her cheeks and her eyes were starting to look bloodshot, but she still looked the same as I remember her. "I can't believe it's you," I whispered, resting my forehead on hers.

"Gale?"

I turned around as Rick said my name, and smiled at him. "Rick Grimes, this is my younger sister, Abby Ross."

Rick nodded to her in greeting, and she gave him a nod in return. "Thank you," she whimpered. "For bringing her back to us."

Rick chuckled at this. "To be honest, she saved me, and got me here."

"That sounds like G," a male voice laughed.

I turned around, my arm still around Abby, to see her husband, Ronnie Ross, standing there. I gave a grin at seeing my brother-in-law and oldest friend. I released Abby and gave him a bear hug that he returned. When Ronnie released me, he walked up to Rick and held out his hand.

"Ronnie Ross," he introduced himself. "Abby's husband."

"Rick Grimes," Rick replied, shaking his hand.

"Looks like we both found what we were looking for, huh Rick?" I asked with a smirk. He smiled back at me, and nodded.

***What Walks the Earth***

That night I sat around a small fire of embers with Abby and Ronnie in their part of camp with their son and daughter, Alexander and Leah. Luckily, Alex remembered me. Leah didn't at first, but soon did. They both had remarkable memory for twelve and six.

Abby and Ronnie filled me in to how they came to the camp, and that my younger brother, Matthew, was also with them. But, he was on a hunting trip with Daryl Dixon, and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. I smiled at the thought of my little brother. He had always been into hunting, and I taught him as much as I could before I was kicked out our territory. I guess our dad taught him the rest.

The idea of him out hunting with someone brought another thought to mind. Was Daryl anything like his brother Merle? I couldn't imagine Matt hanging with anyone if they were like Merle.

I looked at Abby, who sat next to me, and Ronnie, who sat across from us. "Say Abby, what kind of person is Daryl?" She looked at me strangely. "I'm just wondering if he's anything like Merle."

Abby nodded and shared a look with her husband. "He's not like Merle, and is more considerate than his brother. But, to be honest, Matt would know more about him than we would. Daryl usually keeps to himself."

Abby then proceeded to change the subject by asking me about how I had faired the last month. I told her about taking leave, and how I met and left my first group. Explained to them how I met Rick, and about what happened in the city. Both she and Ronnie were shocked when I said that Rick knew about us. They knew that I had only ever trusted Ronnie enough with that information.

"Do you think he'll tell Lori and Shane?" Abby asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "Rick promised not to tell anyone, even if we found his family. He's not one to break a promise or someone's trust in him."

"How can you be sure?" Ronnie questioned. "You've only spent a few days with him."

"Two reasons," I explained. "One, he didn't freak out when I told him. He was calm, and thought it through. And two, the way he acts, reminds me of Casey."

At the mention of the older Alpha, both of them grew silent. Casey was the oldest of my siblings, and the only Alpha that could tolerate another Alpha. He was trustworthy, honest, and actually cared about the others in his pack. The man wasn't demanding or controlling. He commanded respect, because he first respected and protected those close to him.

"So, no one here know?" I asked. The look they shared told me everything. "Look, he won't tell. How about we get some sleep, okay?"

Abby and Ronnie had helped me earlier to put up an extra tent they had that I could use. We each went into our separate tents, after saying good night. I took off my boots, and got into my sleeping bag. As soon as I laid my head down, I was fast asleep.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next morning, I woke up to movement outside my tent. After letting my eyes adjust to the light, I listened to the sounds outside. All it was were the noises of people bustling around camp. 'Must have been more exhausted than I though.'

I put on some new clothes on from my pack, and put on my boots, then went outside. I had rained the night before, so the air smelled fresh and clean. I slung my quivers of arrows across my back and my bow after them. I said good morning to Abby, who was hanging up clothes. I then made my way to the RV at the front of camp.

I passed a woman with short, mousy gray hair and light green eyes. She was ironing out some clothes on an ironing board. "Good morning," she greeted.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Your clothes should be dry soon," she told me.

I looked at the other clothes on the ironing board, and realized that they were the ones that I had worn yesterday. "Carol right?" I asked, and she nodded hesitantly. "You washed my clothes?"

Carol chuckled a bit. "As best we could. Scrubbing on a wash board isn't half as good as my old May tack back home."

"Well, thank you," I told her with a smile. "That was very kind of you to do." She nodded with a small smile of her own, and I continued towards the RV.

Ronnie passed me as I walked. He gave me a smile and nod in greeting, which I returned. I saw Rick standing next to the RV with a slightly pale face. I could only guess that Ronnie had talked to him. I walked over to him, and patted his back. He jumped and looked at me. "Morning."

He nodded slightly, but didn't say anything. "Ronnie threatened you didn't he," I stated. He nodded mutely again, and I sighed. "Sorry 'bout him. He's protective of his family, and of me; it's in our nature. But he won't try anything, okay?"

Rick looked me directly in the eyes, but still nodded. The color seemed to come back to his face with my reassurance. "Is he like you?" he asked.

"He's a Beta," I responded quietly. "Not nearly as strong as I am. The only other Alpha in our family is my older brother, Casey."

"So, are they your pack now?"

I looked towards their part of camp. "We talked about it last night, but I'm not sure. I've spent so much time on my own, I'm not sure if I'm fit for a pack of my own; even if it's my own family."

"Don't worry," he said, patting my shoulder. I looked at him. "If you were, I'm sure you'd do great."

We smiled at each other, and then he went to talk to his wife. I looked towards Ronnie and Abby, as he reached their camp, and wrapped an arm around her and kissed her. I was about to walk over to them, when a scream caught my attention. I ran towards the sound without a second thought, taking off my bow and notching an arrow as I ran. I ran past Jacqui and the kids, and in the direction Jacqui pointed.

Rick, his friend, Shane, Morales, an older man, Dale, Glenn, and another man by the name of Jim followed after me. The man surrounded this walker that was eating from the neck of a large deer. I noticed that the dear had five arrows in its rear and side. The walker seemed to hear Rick approaching, and got up and began to walk towards him. Rick was the first to strike, soon everyone else did to.

They all kept beating the walker until Dale finally cut off its head with an axe. "That's the first one we've had up here," Dale said. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"They're running out of food in the city," Jin stated.

There was some rustling from the bushes that made me raise my bow. I took a breath, and found Matt's sent and one that I didn't recognize. Soon, they both came out of the bushes, and everyone relaxed. My eyes were practically glued to the other man. He was about my height with short dark brown hair. But, what got me were his eyes; they were an icy blue. I felt almost mesmerized by them.

"Gale?" a voice asked.

My head snapped in the direction of the voice, and met the surprised light blue eyes of Matthew. He had grown since I last saw him, about 5 foot 6 inches, and his skin was tanner than I remembered. He still had short, blonde hair like I remembered though. Matthew was staring at me with an open mouth, in complete shock. I smiled at him, and laughed slightly at his expression. "Hey Matty."

A big smile crossed his face, and gave me a bear hug. After he released me, he turned to the other man, who handed him his crossbow bolts. "Daryl, this is my sister Gale," he said.

Daryl nodded at me, and I nodded back. He then walked past me and Matthew, and back towards camp with the rest of us following. "Merle! Merle, get your ugly ass out her'," he called. "I got us some squirrel. Let's stew 'em up!"

"Hey Daryl," Shane called, as he put his shotgun in his jeep. "Why don't you slow up a bit? I need to talk to ya."

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a little problem in Atlanta."

Daryl looked around to see everyone looking at him anxiously, and with apprehensive expressions. He looked back at Shane when he spoke. "He dead?" he asked.

"Not sure," Shane replied.

Daryl became angry with that. "He either is or he ain't!"

Matt gave me a confused look, but I only shook my head. I mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

Rick then stepped forward. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?" Daryl demanded.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof hooked into a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl turned away from Rick, and wiped furiously at his eyes. He was trying to keep from seeing him cry. However, I had become really good at reading through other people's emotions. "Hold on," he said, his voice getting louder with each word. "Let me process this. You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof, and you left him there!?"

"Yeah," Rick responded.

Daryl glared at him for a moment then threw the string of squirrels at Rick, and Rick stepped back to avoid getting hit. Daryl tried to throw a punch, but Shane pushed him to the ground. Matthew was about to step in, but I placed a hand on his chest. He looked at me, and I shook my head.

"Watch the knife!" T-Dog's voice warned. That brought both Matt's and my attention back to the fight; Daryl had a hunting machete in his hand.

He tried to go after Rick with it, but Rick managed to dodge and then knock it out of his hands. Shane then put Daryl into a head lock. "Best let me go!" Daryl shouted.

"Nah, think it's batter that I don't," Shane objected.

"Choke holding's illegal," Daryl snapped.

"Hey, file a complaint," Shane replied. "Come on now, we can keep this up all day."

Rick knelt down in front of Daryl. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" When he didn't get a response, he tried again. "Do you think we can manage that?"

Rick looked at Shane, who let go of Daryl. Daryl scooted back in the dirt. Rick moved towards him. "What I did was not on a whim," he said. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog spoke up. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl snapped, after getting his breath.

"Well, I dropped it down a drain," he explained.

Daryl grabbed a handful of dirt, and began to stand up. As he walked towards T-Dog, he threw the dirt back to the ground as he threw the dirt back to the ground as he spoke. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog told him. "I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him—with a padlock."

"That's gotta count for something," Rick told him.

Daryl wiped furiously again at his eyes. "To hell with all y'all!" he shouted. "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you," Lori spoke up from the doorway of the RV. "Isn't that right?"

Rick looked unsure at first, but nodded looking back at Daryl. "I'm going back."

Daryl walked off, as did Rick, and I walked back to my own tent. I went in and started to strap my weapons on. When I walked out, I found Abby and Ronnie standing in front of her tent, and Matthew standing behind them.

"You're going with him?" Abby asked. I sighed and nodded at her. I started to walk back to the center of the camp, but she grabbed my arm to stop me. "But why? Why would you risk your life, and not stay here where you're needed? You're our Alpha, we need you here."

I yanked my arm away from her, and turned on her. "But I'm not your Alpha," I whispered harshly. "I never agreed to it, and I need some space to think." I continued back to the middle of camp, and into a conversation.

"So, you and Daryl? That's your big plan?" Lori asked.

Rick looked towards Glenn expectantly, who groaned. "Oh, come on…"

"You know the way," Rick explained. "You've been there before—in and out, no problem, you said it yourself. It's not fair of me to ask—I know that—but I'd feel better if you went along. I know she would too." He gestured towards his wife as he said the last part.

"That's just great," Shane said. "Now you're going to risk three men, huh?"

"Four," T-Dog corrected.

Daryl turned to look at who spoke, and scoffed turning back to cleaning his arrows. "My day just keeps gettin' better and better, don't it?"

"Do you see anybody else steppin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?" Daryl asked, not looking up from his arrows.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four," Dale noted.

"Five," I spoke up, and everyone turned to me. Rick was about to argue, but I held up my hand to stop him. "Don't even think about arguing Rick, I'm going. Marines don't leave someone behind, no matter what."

Rick thought this over, and nodded in agreement. Shane wasn't too happy about this, and threw his hands up in exasperation. "You're putting every single one of us at risk, just know that Rick," he said desperately. "I mean, come on, you was that walker, it was _here_, it was _in camp_. They're moving outta the city. They come back; we need every able body we got. We need 'em here, we need 'em to _protect_ camp."

"Seems to me what you really need most here are more guns," Rick countered.

"Right…" Glenn said, remembering the bag of guns in the city. "The guns…"

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Rick answered. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag back in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sittin' there on the street, waitin' to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane questioned further.

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted," Rick replied.

Shane shook his head, obviously torn.

"You went through hell to find us," Lori spoke up. "You just got here, and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl said.

"To hell with the guns," Lori continued. "Shane's right. _Merle Dixon_? He's not worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in." Rick ran a hand through his hair, and approached his wife, who stood up to meet him. "Tell me," she urged. "Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met, and his little boy," Rick explained. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I would've died. It's because of them that I found Gale, and it's because of her that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if I don't warn him."

"What's stoppin' you?"

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"Is it our walkies?" Shane asked.

Rick nodded at him. "Yeah."

"So, use the CB?" Andrea suggested. "What's wrong with that?"

"CB's fine—it's the walkies that suck," Shane explained. "They're crap, date back to the seventies don't match any other bandwidth—not even the scanners in our cars."

"I need that bag," Rick pleaded with Lori. She was hesitant, but nodded slightly. Rick then walked over to Carl, and bent down in front of him. "Okay?" he asked.

Carl looked at his dad for a moment, and then gave a firm nod.

***What Walks the Earth***

While Rick and T-Dog got bolt cutters from Dale, Glenn backed up the cube van. I was waiting to get in, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I found Matthew with a worried expression. "What?" I practically snapped. I didn't mean to, but it just came out like that.

I saw him flinch, and I didn't like the feeling it gave me. Matt had been one of the siblings that was openly opposed to me being kicked out. He was also the only one that didn't try to hide the fact that he was contacting me from our father. We've always been close, and making him flinch away from me, just made me feel horrible. I sighed.

"Look, I'm not sure if I'm ready to have a pack of my own yet," I admitted. Matt looked up at me shocked, and was about to say something, but I cut him off. "Leading a Marine unit isn't the same thing. They still had free will when it came to orders; you guys won't. I just want to be sure that I can do this, okay?"

He smiled and nodded. "I just wanted to say that whatever you decide, I'll still follow you."

I chuckled at this, and he gave me a hug that I returned. After he let me go, I got into the cube van, and sat behind the driver's seat, where Glenn sat. I watched as Matt shook hands with Daryl, wishing him luck. Daryl hopped into the back of the cube van, his eyes meeting my gaze. I broke eye contact first by closing my eyes and leaning against the wall of the van.

I stayed like that for a little bit, but jumped when the van's horn went off. Opening my eyes, I found Daryl leaning of the horn with his foot. "Come on!" he shouted. "Let's go!"

T-Dog climbed into the cube van, and sat down next to me. I gave him a small smile, and he gave me a weak one of his own. I watched as Shane spoke to Rick about taking bullets for his Colt Python.

"You and that bag, like the bottom of an old lady's purse," Rick commented.

"I hate that you're doin' this, man," Shane told him firmly. "I think that it's foolish and reckless, but if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets."

"Not sure I want to fire a shot in the city," Rick admitted, looking at me. "Not after last time."

"That's up to you," Shane replied. He pulled out five bullets in his hands. "Five men, five bullets—what are the odds, huh? Let's just hope that five is your lucky number."

Rick took the bullets from Shan's hand. "Thank you." Rick walked around the van as the back was closed, and go in the passenger's seat. He began to put the bullets in his Python as Glenn put the van in gear, and drove off.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The drive was quiet, and no one spoke. The air was tense due to Daryl glaring at T-Dog. I took this time to observe him. He seemed to be genuinely concerned for his brother, which was good. _'Matt seems to like him, so he can't be that bad.'_

"He'd better be okay," Daryl said threateningly, breaking the silence. "That's my only word on the matter."

"I told you—the geeks can't get at him," T-Dog objected. "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

Daryl didn't respond, and I felt the van slow down. We came to a stop, and Glenn turned around. "We walk from here," he said.

We all piled out, and I realized we were at an abandoned train station. We came to a fence, and Glenn peeled back a section to let us through. Rick went through first, then Daryl, and I followed.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation!" Daryl responded angrily.

"We are!" Rick said harshly, he then turned to Glenn, who came through the fence last. "You know the geography, it's your call."

"Merle's closest, the guns would mean doubling back," Glenn replied as we started jogging. "Merle first."

***What Walks the Earth***

We managed to get into the department store without drawing attention. Thank God. We were all quiet as we moved through the front of the store. Rick signaled us to stop, and signaled that he could see a walker. I took a silent breath and got the scent of decaying flesh on top of a female scent, as well as that of a male.

Daryl moved forward, with me right behind him. "Damn, that's one ugly skank," he mumbled. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I spotted the second walker approaching Daryl, who was removing his bolt from the forehead of the female.

Pulling back the arrow in my bow, I aimed and released, just as Daryl saw the second walker. My arrow hit the side of the head, and the walker dropped head. So to speak. Daryl turned to look at me, and watched as I moved forward to retrieve my arrow. After I re-notched the arrow, I looked up at him to see him still staring. He nodded in thanks, and I nodded back.

We moved to the stairs and up to the roof. T-Dog mad his way to the door and cut the padlock with the bolt cutters. The chain was removed, and Daryl was the first through the door. "Merle!" he shouted for his brother. "Merle!"

Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and I followed him only to see the cuffs hanging there bloodied, and a hand on the roof. "No!" Daryl started shouting. "No!"

***What Walks the Earth***

Daryl was breathing heavily, and drew his crossbow on T-Dog, pointing it at his head. Rick reacted quickly and also drew his Python, aiming it at Daryl's head. I did the same with my bow, pointing it at the other side of Daryl's head.

"I won't hesitate," Rick told Daryl firmly. "I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."

Daryl seemed to consider this for a minute, and dropped his crossbow. I lowered my bow, and gave a slight nod to Rick, who looked to me for confirmation. Rick lowered his gun, and put it back in its holster.

"Do you have a do-rag or something?" Daryl asked T-Dog. T-Dog looked confused for a moment before he reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a blue bandana.

Daryl set down his crossbow, and kneeled down by the hand. "The, uh, saw blade must have been too dull for the handcuffs." He picked up the hand. "Ain't that a bitch," he muttered. Daryl placed the hand on the bandana before wrapping it up. He motioned to Glenn, and then put the wrapped up hand in Glenn's backpack. Meanwhile, I was examining the scene.

There wasn't a lot of blood; it was only really on the cuffs. "Must have used a tourniquet," I mused out loud. "Maybe his belt.

"There'd be much more blood if he didn't," Daryl finished. He had picked up his crossbow again, and started to follow the blood trail.

We followed him as he jumped to another close roof, and into the roof stairwell. Rick came up beside me. "How long?" he whispered. He was vague, but I knew what he meant.

I sighed. "Two, maybe three hours," I replied. "Five at the most." Rick nodded to show that he understood, and got a hard look on his face. "It wasn't your fault," I told him firmly; he just nodded again.

Daryl and Rick led the way through what looked to be a former restaurant. It looked like it was a classy place at one point. We came to a larger room, and saw two walkers on the floor; their heads smashed in by a socket wrench.

"He had enough in 'em to take out these two sumbitches, one handed," Daryl boasted. "Toughest asshole I've ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss," I reminded him. "No matter how tough he is."

We walked further into the building. Daryl tried to call for his brother, and Rick tried to quiet him. "Screw that," was Daryl's reply. "He could be bleeding out, Gale said so."

I gave him an odd look. We barely knew each other, and we hadn't really talked to each other; yet, he's willing to go by my word. _'Very strange one indeed.'_

We came to what looked like a kitchen, and as soon as we entered, I got hit with the smell of burning flesh. I fought my gag reflex, and struggled to keep my face as straight as possible. Rick walked over to the oven and turned it off. He picked up an ironing tool to examine it.

"What's that burnt stuff?" Glenn asked.

"Skin," I answered before Rick.

Rick gave me a questioning look, and I scrunched up my nose; saying it was the smell. He nodded, understanding my meaning. "He cauterized the stump," he finished. Glenn made a disgusted expression, and looked away.

"Told you he was tough," Daryl told Rick. "Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith," Rick objected. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"Didn't stop him from busting outta this death trap," Daryl said, walking over to a busted out window.

We all walked over to him, and Rick stuck his head out to see where the trail went. "He left the building?" Glenn questioned in a panicked tone. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"He's alone, as far as he knows," Daryl answered. "Doin' what he's gotta do, survivin'."

"You call that survivin'?" T-Dog asked. "Just wandering out in the street, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

"Better than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks!" Daryl exclaimed. He then turned to Rick. "You couldn't kill him. I ain't so worried about some dumb, dead bastard."

"How about a thousand dumb dead bastards?" Rick objected. "Different story?"

"Why don't you take a tally?" Daryl replied coolly. "Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." He tried to walk past Rick to follow the trail, but was pushed back by Rick. "Don't touch me! You can't stop me!"

"I don't blame you," Rick said firmly. "He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We can help you check a few blocks around, but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl stared at Rick for a moment. "I can do that."

Rick glanced at me, and I nodded. He then looked at T-Dog, who shook his head.

"Only if we get those guns first," T-Dog said. "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

***What Walks the Earth***

"You're not doing this alone," Rick objected.

We were sitting in an office area of a lab. Glenn had a large white board on the floor, and had mapped out the area where the guns were. He had said that he would be going alone.

"Even I think it's a bad idea, and I don't even like you much," Daryl agreed.

"It's a good idea," Glenn insisted. "If you just hear me out." Rick reluctantly agreed by kneeling down next to the white board. "If we go as a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look…" Glenn placed a paper clamp on the white board. "That's the tank—five blocks from where we are now." He put a crumpled sticky note next to the paper clamp. "That's the bag of guns." He motioned to the alley next to them. "This is the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Gale, and I will go."

"Why us?" Daryl wondered.

"Your crossbow and her bow are quieter than his gun," Glenn replied.

I exchanged a glace with Daryl, which I looked away from, and a worried look with Rick. I wasn't entirely sure about this plan, but it was the only one we had.

"While Daryl and Gale wait here in the alley," Glenn went on; placing a container of white out strips in the alley he'd pointed to before. "I'll run up the street, grab the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick questioned.

"You and T-Dog—right," Glenn said he put a block eraser on the white board. "You'll be here."

"Two blocks away? Why?" Rick questioned.

"I might not be able to come back the same way," Glenn explained. "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Gale. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll meet back here."

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked, curious.

"Delivered pizzas," he replied confused. "Why?"

We fell into silence, not knowing what to say to that.

***What Walks the Earth***

I quickly descended the ladder behind Glenn and Daryl. As soon as Daryl's feet touched the ground, he moved to the side so that I could drop down. When my feet touched the ground, I quickly took my bow from over my shoulder to in front of me. I followed Glenn and Daryl who moved towards the opening of the alley. We hid between two large dumpsters, and Glenn took off his plaid over shirt.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman," Daryl commented.

"I'm Korean," Glenn hissed back.

"Whatever," Daryl brushed off. While Glenn ran off out of the alley, Daryl and I both knocked an arrow in our weapons.

The two of us waited in silence for a while. That is until I heard soft footsteps approaching us. I made eye contact with Daryl and signaled that I could hear footsteps, and then pointed to the alley. He nodded, seeming to understand. He waited until he could hear the steps before he and I stepped out into the alleyway.

We found a teenage boy with blonde hair. I lowered my bow, but stayed ready. Daryl, on the other hand, kept his crossbow pointed at the teen.

"Whoa, don't shoot me!" the teen cried out. "What do you want?"

"I'm lookin' for my brother," Daryl replied. "He's hurt real bad. You seen him?"

Instead of answering, the teen shouted past Daryl. "_Ayúdame__!_"

"Shut up!" Daryl snapped, thrusting his crossbow and stepped forward closer to the boy. "You're gonna bring the geeks down on us! Answer me!"

"Answer me!" Daryl repeated more forcefully.

"_Ayúdame!_" the boy shouted again. "_Ayúdame__! __Ayúdame__!_"

Daryl whipped him across the face with his crossbow, and tried to keep him quiet. Suddenly, I heard two sets of running footsteps coming towards us. I turned too late and got a metal baseball bat to my head. I feel to the ground, disoriented. My world spun, but a voice shouting my name made it stop and focus.

"Gale! Daryl, help me!" Glenn's voice shouted.

I turned to see a guy throwing Glenn into the back of a car, and they drove off. Daryl ran towards the gate, shouting for them to come back. He then turned his anger on the teen that got left behind. Rick ran up at that moment, and held Daryl back, while Daryl shouted threats at the kid.

"What happened?!" Rick shouted.

"They took Glenn," I replied.

"This little douche bag and his douche bag friends," Daryl added, then shouted a threat at the kid. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

"Guys!" T-Dog shouted at us. "Guys, we're cut off!"

"Get to the ladder!" Rick ordered. "Go!"

I stood up, leaning on the dumpster for support. The wound was healing, but it was going slowly. When my vision finally focused fully, I pushed away from the dumpster and ran after T-Dog and the boy. I followed T-Dog up the ladder, fully aware of Rick and Daryl behind me.

***What Walks the Earth***

"Those men you were with," Rick started. "We need to know where they went."

We were back at the lab; Rick was questioning the boy, with T-Dog and me leaning on a desk behind him. Daryl was pacing behind us. The kid was definitely scared of us and what we might do, or at least what Daryl might do. Somehow, the boy was still trying to act tough.

"I ain't telling you nothin'," the boy said defiantly, which made me raise an eyebrow.

"Jesus, man," T-Dog muttered. "What the hell happened back there?"

"I told you! This little turd and his douche bag friends came outta nowhere and jumped us," Daryl replied, motioning between him and me.

"You're the one who jumped me, _puto_," the boy argued. The last bit made me smirk and I tried not to laugh. I had to learn at least four languages at home; Spanish being one, so I knew what that meant. "Screamin' about tryin' to find his brother like it's my damn fault."

"They took Glenn, coulda taken Merle too," Daryl responded.

"'Merle'?" the boy scoffed. "What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."

Daryl got pissed at that, and when to attack him. Rick stepped in and held him back. "Damn it Daryl! Back off!" Rick ordered as he pushed Daryl away.

Daryl paused to calm down, and then walked over to the backpack Glenn had left in the room. He took out the wrapped hand. "You wanna see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" he asked.

He unwrapped the hand, and threw it into the kid's lap. The teen freaked out and jumped out of the chair he was in. Daryl jumped on him and grabbed his shoulders. "We'll start with the feet this time," he threatened.

Rick went and grabbed Daryl throwing him back. He then knelt down in front of the boy. "The men you were with took our friend," he said. "All we want to do is talk to them; see if we can work something out."

The boy looked nervous, and shifted his eyes from Rick to Daryl and back. He nodded nervously.


End file.
